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ATHKA Olympiad Achieves Record Enrolment in Kingdom with over 260,000 Saudi Students

ATHKA Olympiad Achieves Record Enrolment in Kingdom with over 260,000 Saudi Students
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ATHKA Olympiad Achieves Record Enrolment in Kingdom with over 260,000 Saudi Students

ATHKA Olympiad Achieves Record Enrolment in Kingdom with over 260,000 Saudi Students

National Olympiad for Programming and Artificial Intelligence (ATHKA) has set a record with over 260,000 Saudi male and female students from intermediate and secondary levels participating.

Representing over 10,000 schools in the Kingdom, this makes it the largest national Olympiad to reach such extensive participation. The surge in involvement indicates a significant rise in the Kingdom's youth awareness and interest in programming and AI technologies, SPA reported.

The substantial engagement with ATHKA highlights the successful collaboration between the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), the Ministry of Education, and the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba).

Together, they aim to bolster ATHKA as a national initiative nurturing a generation proficient in programming and AI, aligning with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 for human capacity development.

In April 2023, the Kingdom secured the second position globally in societal awareness of AI. This achievement follows a survey demonstrating increased confidence among Saudi citizens in utilizing AI products and services.

The Artificial Intelligence Index's sixth edition report by Stanford University indicates a high level of trust among Saudi citizens in embracing AI within the Kingdom.

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Xiaomi Raises EV Sales Target, Plans New Overseas Stores as Q4 Revenue Jumps

A man walks past a logo of Xiaomi, a Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics, outside a shop in Mumbai, India, May 11, 2022. (Reuters)
A man walks past a logo of Xiaomi, a Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics, outside a shop in Mumbai, India, May 11, 2022. (Reuters)
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Xiaomi Raises EV Sales Target, Plans New Overseas Stores as Q4 Revenue Jumps

A man walks past a logo of Xiaomi, a Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics, outside a shop in Mumbai, India, May 11, 2022. (Reuters)
A man walks past a logo of Xiaomi, a Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics, outside a shop in Mumbai, India, May 11, 2022. (Reuters)

China's Xiaomi on Tuesday reported an almost 50% jump in fourth-quarter revenue, beating analyst estimates, and raised its target for electric vehicle deliveries this year to 350,000 from 300,000.

The world's third-largest smartphone maker, whose product lines extend to home appliances and cars, also said it planned to expand its store network across China this year and open 10,000 new Mi Home stores overseas in the next five years.

The company reported a 48.8% rise in fourth-quarter revenue to 109 billion yuan ($15.1 billion), beating the 103.94 billion yuan average of 17 analyst estimates compiled by LSEG. Adjusted net profit jumped 69.4% year-on-year to 8.32 billion yuan, ahead of the average estimate of 6.399 billion yuan, Reuters reported.

Xiaomi president Lu Weibing said on an earnings call that he saw great potential for the company's products - from phones and tablets to cars - in overseas markets, though he added the complexity of expanding abroad was "quite high". Lu said the company aimed to start shipping cars overseas in 2027. Xiaomi's Hong Kong-listed shares closed up 3.3% before the earnings release. The stock has surged 284% over the past 12 months amid investor enthusiasm for its EV plans.

Xiaomi began manufacturing EVs last year with the launch of the SU7 sedan after selling smartphones, household appliances and smart gadgets for most of its 15-year history.

It reported 32.1 billion yuan in revenue for its EV business in 2024, delivering more than 135,000 SU7 sedans. The adjusted net loss related to its EV and other new initiatives reached 6.2 billion yuan.

Xiaomi's fourth-quarter global smartphone shipments rose 5% from a year earlier to 42.7 million handsets, ranking it third globally, with a market share of 13%, data from researcher Canalys showed.

In China, its largest market, shipments surged 29% to 12.2 million handsets over the same period, ranking it fourth, with a market share of 16%, according to the Canalys data.

Lu said Xiaomi aimed to ship 180 million smartphones this year, versus

in 2024, adding the company would invest up to 8 billion yuan, about a quarter of its total research and development budget this year, in AI-related initiatives.